Chapter 243
Chapter 243
Chapter 243
Heaven's Fall (8)
"That's right."
Rudian answered Gaigo's words calmly.
—That greedy Mars wouldn't have handed over his power willingly, so you must have forcibly taken it.
Just as he said, by destroying the core of Mars who had previously awakened as the sun god, Rudian was able to obtain part of Mars' power.
At Gaigo's words, which carried a subtle anger, Rudian chuckled and mocked his attitude.
"You have a fox-like side despite your massive size. If it were you, you would have watched the moment I killed Mars."
—...
"This hermit-like hiding is not only to avoid the attention of the heavens, but also to prevent being caught using the power to pierce dimensions, isn't it?"
Gaigo instantly became speechless.
Naturally, since everything Rudian said was correct, he had nothing to say.
"The second Primordial fragment that Mars entrusted to you—you must have it, so just hand it over obediently."
The primordial fragment.
The key to unsealing the Avatar of Destruction.
Since obtaining one by killing Mars previously, there had been no prominence of its existence until coming to heaven.
—...Insolent.
WHOOSH!
Flames burst out from between his granite-black flesh.
—Though I promised Mars to hand it over to the one who opens the seal, your arrogance goes too far!
RUMBLE!
Responding to Gaigo's anger, the surrounding environment began to shake.
Volcanic ash scattered, lava spurted out, and the ambient temperature rose sharply.
"...Seriously."
Rudian sighed and shook his head.
"Why are you being so stubborn when you want to quickly dump this burden and hide?"
—...
"If you've decided not to interfere in worldly affairs, then stick to that vow to the end. Don't pointlessly test people."
Gaigo fell silent.
Just as Rudian said, despite his words, Gaigo had no interest in worldly affairs.
The reason this creature, who had belonged to Mars' faction since the genesis, still maintained his power was because he hadn't participated in the war between Berus and Mars in the first place.
—You know my circumstances very well. How curious.
A calm voice was heard, making the previous anger seem like a lie.
"I wouldn't mind fighting either."
No matter how strong Gaigo might be, the forces gathered here were definitely not at a level that couldn't handle one Gaigo.
—Fine, take it.
THUD!
In an instant, something like a very small grain of sand flowed out from Gaigo's body.
However, that was only relative to his massive size—a colorful orb about the size of a soccer ball settled in front of Rudian.
—Now I can finally rest comfortably!
Having said that, Gaigo slowly began to transform into the complete form of a mountain.
Given his personality of finding everything bothersome, it was quite admirable that he had waited this long.
—Go. I will enjoy a peaceful sleep for the first time in tens of thousands of years.
"...You're quite at ease when the world is about to end or not."
—If it's going to end, let it end. No matter how much Berus struggles, the world's conclusion is predetermined...
"...Wait, what do you mean by that?"
—I'm sleepy, so go now. I won't open the door anymore.
"This damn bastard!"
Dropping such an ominous hint and just running away!
Rudian swung Diablo and quickly unleashed sword strikes.
However, before those strikes could reach Gaigo, Rudian and his companions had somehow been moved to the entrance of the original dungeon.
'No, seriously...'
It was good that he had personally recovered the primordial fragment as expected, but it left an unpleasant aftertaste at the last moment.
'Should I go back in and ask?'
While Rudian was struggling with such a strong impulse...
"But Rudian, I have a question."
"What is it?"
Gabriel tilted his head and asked Rudian.
"What is this primordial fragment? I've never heard of it before..."
Most of the artifacts that Rudian had ordered to be recovered so far were things whose identity could be somewhat guessed or whose true nature was clearly known.
However, this strange orb that he was encountering for the first time was something Gabriel had never seen before.
An artifact that seemed to be neither divine power nor the power of another world... possessing a strange light.
Rudian nodded and answered Gabriel's question.
"This is the key to the seal of the Avatar of Destruction."
Since only those who had lived since before the genesis like Gaigo or Mars could know of such an object, naturally Gabriel wouldn't have known.
"Wait, why would you need a key? Isn't Luciel currently guarding the seal?"
"That's a bit different. Luciel is guarding the seal, but more precisely, she's suppressing the cracks in the seal."
“She's just desperately holding back water from leaking out of a water tank.’
"And this is the faucet of that water tank."
"...!"
"If you can scoop up the water, you can also close it with this."
The Avatar of Destruction cannot be controlled.
Even if the plan of Heaven's Fall to release it and bring down the heavens succeeds, if you can't do anything about the Avatar of Destruction in the end, it's all for nothing.
Gabriel realized the value of the Primordial fragment and nodded.
"I understand the value of that orb. But how can that become a weapon to kill Lord Berus?"
"It's because of the attribute of the power contained in this Primordial fragment."
Rudian said while putting the second Primordial fragment into subspace.
"This is an artifact with the same attributes as the Avatar of Destruction."
"Wh-what!"
Shock was etched on Gabriel's face.
"It's a trace of the previous era, like the Seven-Colored World."
More precisely, the seven-colored powers that compose this worldview are what appeared when this power was divided into seven parts.
"Gabriel, you know what characteristics the Avatar of Destruction has, right?"
"...I know from records. The Omnivorous Beast that devours everything. Even divine power is nothing more than a meal..."
That was the reason why Berus, with all his mighty power, was helplessly defeated in the original story.
Rudian nodded.
"That's right. This Primordial fragment also has the function of devouring all power. Of course, it can't be used as it is, so it requires some complex processing..."
In the original story, Abel collected all the Seven-Colored Worlds instead of this to eliminate the Avatar of Destruction.
Even though the difficulty would certainly be lower than collecting all the Seven-Colored Worlds, the reason this wasn't used was because of its danger that was on a different dimension from the Seven-Colored Worlds.
'This is insurance, after all. It can be an alternative now that I can't obtain the White World.'
If used carelessly, Rudian himself would be devoured by the Primordial fragment instead.
'How ironic. The White World, which was no different from a tutorial reward in the original, has now become the hardest thing to obtain.'
Still, having made some preparations, Rudian looked around at his companions with a much more relaxed mind.
"We've recovered the most important thing, so let's rest a bit until the guys who went to recover the other artifacts return."
"What, did you already make the first move?"
"...!"
A familiar voice heard from a slightly distant place.
Gray, who was near Rudian, immediately frowned and turned his gaze toward where the voice came from.
"Youuuuu!"
"...Gray."
The Gray that Rudian was referring to was not his companion and younger brother Gray.
It was the original story character and the god of magic who had seen everything up to Chapter 4—Future Gray.
"This is the first time seeing you like this."
"Right?"
Future Gray tilted his head and smiled slightly.
He had heard that he attacked Gray and confronted Maria and Luciella, but this was the first time seeing him face to face.
"The beanpole came too."
"...Yes."
Luciella nodded.
But for some reason, Future Gray shook his head with a bitter expression.
"I wished you hadn't come."
"..."
However, that emotion didn't last long.
Future Gray turned his gaze back to the present-day Gray as if trying to forcibly erase Luciella.
"Yes, my past self. Did you train hard after getting beaten last time?"
"Grr!"
"You were the only one in your group who showed the disgrace of having your Seven-Colored World stolen, so you must have improved a bit by now, right?"
As expected, Future Gray was indeed Gray himself.
He knew exactly what points would piss off his own self the most.
"This damn... bastard..."
"Now, that's enough."
Rudian sighed and restrained Gray.
Gray, who had acted quite spirited until now, had tried to avoid profanity as much as possible... How did it come to this?
Rudian looked at Future Gray calmly and said:
"You're not the main body."
"Huh?"
Interest sparkled in Future Gray's eyes.
"You figured it out at a glance? I thought I hid it pretty well."
"You can't fool my eyes."
More precisely, it was Adi's eyes, but.
—Master and I are one in mind and body, but... still, saying that is a bit...
Rudian deliberately ignored Adi's words and looked at Future Gray.
"When you said I made the first move, you were also after the Primordial fragment."
Surprisingly, Future Gray readily admitted that fact.
"That's right. With only two Seven-Colored Worlds in the current situation, I needed to take some risks to turn things around..."
Future Gray's eyes grew coldly subdued.
"You seem to be in a similar situation as me. Seeing that you recovered it."
"..."
"Well, fine. Since it's come to this, I have no choice but to find another method. I was planning to come look for you after this was over anyway, so it's actually better that we met like this."
"You were planning to come look for me..."
If he was going to look for me with a clone rather than his main body, it wouldn't be for the purpose of fighting...
"Is it a negotiation?"
"Exactly! It's great that we understand each other well."
Future Gray clapped his hands slightly in joy.
"So, what do you want to say?"
If he said something trivial like handing over the Seven-Colored Worlds obediently, even if it was just a clone, I was planning to smash it immediately.
However, the words that came out of Gray's mouth were beyond Rudian's expectations.
"I propose forming a temporary alliance."
"...What?"
"Just as I said. You and us forming an alliance."
"..."
Before rejecting Gray's proposal as absurd, Rudian fell into thought for a moment.
'An alliance is formed when there's a common enemy...'
The fact that the word "us" came out of Gray's mouth means that proposal also reflects Abel's will.
In the current situation, if there's a common enemy of the two forces... strictly speaking, it would be the Avatar of Destruction, but... that can't be right.
"Who are you planning to face?"
"The supreme god Berus."
"...!"
At the completely unexpected words, Rudian and the surrounding people all fell silent at once.
"What's the reason?"
At Rudian's question, Future Gray shrugged.
"What reason is there? That bastard is the culprit of this whole situation, so let's join hands and get rid of him. Fighting between us comes after that."
"But wasn't it Berus who brought you to this world? Are you betraying him?"
At that moment, a cruel smile appeared on Future Gray's lips.
However, Rudian recognized that Gray's smile represented 'anger.'
"Betrayal or whatever, none of us wanted to be dragged to this past."
"..."
"Besides, I had already seen the end of the story and was about to live a happy life. I was even preparing to confess to someone I rather liked..."
At that moment, Future Gray's eyes briefly went toward the back of Rudian and then returned.
Huh?
Wait?
Wait, wait, wait!
'You... where did you just look?'
Rudian was shocked when he realized who Future Gray had briefly looked at.
It was a fact that was never expressed in even a single line in the original story.
She was a sub-heroine candidate, but ultimately didn't become the heroine by the time ended—a widowed woman who had lost her husband.
However, now, due to Rudian's intervention, she was a duke's daughter whose completely ruined fate had changed, and currently the owner of the Violet World.
'Th-that Gray... had feelings for Luciella?'